View full sizeBrett Duke, The Times-Picayune archiveLake Pontchartrain Causeway traffic near the south shore was photographed Dec. 13.

Paving and roadway work associated with a flood control project will
force contractors to narrow the flow coming off the bridge into Metairie
to a single lane up to Sixth Street, Causeway officials said.

The lane restriction is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Causeway
General Manager Carlton Dufrechou said that while the work is scheduled
to go into Sunday evening, the target for completion is actually
Saturday night.

"We just had to make sure it doesn't go into Monday morning" for the crush of the work-day commute, Dufrechou said.

The
work is part of a $43.2 million project that will raise a portion of
Causeway Boulevard and build a 15-foot floodwall beneath it. The work,
which Boh Bros. Construction began in December, is part of a larger,
metrowide hurricane protection program.

Motorists worried that the
work would result in miles-long traffic jams, and bridge officials
worried that the project would send legions of drivers to other routes,
robbing the bridge of toll money.

View full sizeDavid Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune archiveConstruction
at the south end of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway was photographed in
May. May 24, 2011.

But toll revenue has not taken a huge hit, officials say, and traffic jams have been manageable.

"We've been very pleased, particularly with Boh," Dufrechou said. "They've been very accommodating."

Dufrechou
said there have been some snarls -- in recent months the southbound
exit has been funneled to a single lane from 9:30 a.m. to midafternoon,
backing up traffic -- but for the most part, the chaos once feared
hasn't come to pass.

He said Boh and the Army Corps of Engineers,
which is in charge of the project, have worked with the Causeway to
alter construction schedules to minimize disruptions for motorists.

For
instance, on Friday, Boh altered its schedule to keep the southbound
side fully open for Saints fans heading across the lake for the game in
the Superdome.

Dufrechou said the work cannot be done at night
because of safety concerns, but that by scheduling it on weekends, fewer
commuters will be affected. Weekday southbound traffic numbers around
19,000 to 20,000 vehicles daily. It is about half that on weekends --
unless there's some big event like a Saints game, he said.

Motorists should also be aware of an unrelated but nearby road project happening Sunday.

The
westbound lanes on Interstate 10 will be closed at Causeway Boulevard
from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. as construction continues on the interchange.
Westbound traffic will be funneled onto the two-lane exit ramp at
Causeway. The left lane lets traffic move beneath the Causeway overpass
and return to I-10. The right lane leads to northbound Causeway.